WEC Energy Beats Q4 Earnings Estimates, to Add More Renewable Assets

WEC Energy Group WEC reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.42 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.38 per share by 2.9%. The bottom line was missed by a penny, which has decreased 0.7% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.43 per share.

GAAP earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2025 were 97 cents compared with $1.43 in the year-ago quarter.

WEC reported 2025 adjusted earnings of $5.27 per share compared with $4.88 per share in 2024, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 8.0%.

WEC’s Revenues

Operating revenues of $2.54 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.45 billion by around 3.7%. The top line also increased 11% from $2.28 billion recorded in the year-ago quarter.

WEC reported total revenues of $9.80 billion in 2025 compared with $ 8.60 billion in 2024, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 14%.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Highlights of WEC’s Earnings Release

Retail deliveries of electricity, excluding the iron ore mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and in Wisconsin, increased 2.2% and 1.1%, respectively, year over year.

Electricity consumption by small commercial and industrial customers and by large commercial and industrial customers, excluding the iron ore mine, increased 1.6%, while residential electricity consumption increased 3.5% in 2025.

Total operating expenses were $2.08 billion, up 23% from the year-ago level of $1.69 billion. This was due to the higher cost of sales and an increase in other operating and maintenance expenses.

Operating income totaled $ 452.9 million, down 23.4% from $ 590.9 million recorded in the year-ago quarter.

The company incurred an interest expense of $ 227.7 million, up 7.46% from the prior-year level of $ 211.9 million.

WEC’s Financial Position

As of Dec. 31, 2025, WEC had cash and cash equivalents of $27.6 million compared with $9.8 million as of year-end  2024.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the company had a long-term debt of $18.50 billion compared with $17.18 billion as of 2024.

Net cash provided by operating activities during 2025 was $3.38 billion compared with $3.21 billion in the year-ago period.

Capital expenditure for the year totaled $4.40 billion compared with $2.78 billion in 2024.

WEC’s Guidance for 2026

WEC reaffirmed its 2026 earnings projection in the range of $ 5.51-$5.61 per share.

During 2026, the company projects under the weather-normal retail electric sales in Wisconsin to grow 1.6% and the large commercial and industrial segment to grow 5.8% from 2025.

The company plans to invest a total of $7.4 billion in modern, efficient natural gas generation and LNG storage and $12.6 billion to add 6,500 MW in renewable energy over the 2026-2030 period.

WEC Energy expects to invest $37.5 billion in the 2026-2030 period, which supports 7-8% long-term EPS growth.

WEC’s Zacks Rank

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Releases

Ameren AEE is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 12. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 77cents per share, which suggests no change in year over year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter sales is pinned at $2.09 billion, which suggests year-over-year growth of 7.90%.

American Electric Power AEP is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 12. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.15 per share, which suggests decrease 7.26% in year-over-year earnings.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter sales is pinned at $5.23 billion, which suggests year-over-year growth of 11.43%.

Edison International EIX is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.47 per share, which suggests increase 40% in year over year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter sales is pinned at $4.38 billion, which suggests year-over-year growth of 9.94%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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